Experts worldwide hailed that the proposals put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the UN Summit on Biodiversity on Wednesday will have practical and far-reaching significance on protecting biodiversity and building a beautiful world.
Speaking at the UN summit, Xi highlighted the major risks in loss of biodiversity and the degradation of the ecosystem and made four proposals, including adhering to ecological civilization and increasing the drive for building a beautiful world; upholding multilateralism and building synergy for global governance on the environment; continuing with green development and increasing the potential for high-quality economic recovery after COVID-19; and calling on countries to strengthen the power of action to tackle challenges to the environment.
Ronnie Lins, director of the China-Brazil Center for Research and Business, said the four-point proposal is enlightening and important for the human society to achieve green development and promote ecological civilization.
He also said that he believes that fostering high-quality economic recovery in the post-pandemic era requires enhancing cooperation and exchanges across borders.
Egyptian Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad said the international community should devote to maintaining biodiversity in a way that supports environmental protection by attracting more investments to related international activities and cooperation.
Crucial natural reserves and environmental sites around the world should be developed and managed based on global ecosystems development in order to preserve them and maximize economic, social and cultural development, the minister said.
Dr. Hariet L. Hinz, co-director of the MARA China-CABI European Laboratory, said that the protection of biodiversity is therefore a global urgency, and it is imperative that all parties work together to address the serious challenges facing global biodiversity.
"China has made it clear that it is an advocate of multilateralism and has always been an active participant and facilitator of the multilateral process for the protection of biodiversity," she said.
"China has a large community of scientists and policy researchers working on biodiversity-related areas. The lessons and experiences made by China could be particularly valuable to developing countries going through a similar economic development path," she added.
Pinhas Alpert, professor emeritus and former head of Porter School for Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University, said China, a major player in promoting global biodiversity, has taken large steps in this field in recent years.
"I've visited China several times in recent decades. And I was very impressed by its dedication to sustainability and climate change," said Alpert.
Brendan Guy, manager at the International Policy of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said President Xi has articulated a vision of humanity living in harmonious relationship with nature.
Noting that China is to host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming next year, he said the world is looking to China to set an ambitious example.
